Ant's Bushwillow Safari
24 December 2024
The Riding
The Accommodation
Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?
Accommodation and food were excellent. However, given the heat, sometimes the evening meal was a little heavy. The buffet lunches were great because you could serve yourself, and since our evening meals were plated, sometimes the portions were too generous.
A very high standard of food with lots of variety. We looked forward to every meal.
Christmas Lunch was outstanding - the team put on a proper feast.
Before Your Holiday
Did you have all of the information you needed to:
How could we improve the quality of pre-holiday information that we send?
A couple of updates regarding the tipping: the team was not really okay with accepting GBP or USD in cash for tips. Luckily, we had some Rand on us, and were also able to add a tip via credit card.
How could we improve the way we handled your booking and payment?
No comments here, the process from booking to post-holiday follow up is excellent, and we grately appreciated the level of detail provided in our Itinerary. Thank you.
Do you have any other feedback for us?
Yes, but I would rather stay anonymous.
Judy who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic Overall Experience | The team at Ants were great (Bushwillow and Ants Hill). From the start, they said they would "underhorse" us to ensure we were comfortable. We were asked each day if we were happy with our horses and always had options to change horses; it took us a few rides to be matched with horses who were a good match (forward and light). The group sizes were small, and we were matched with comparable riders. We were at the reserve for a total of 10 days, and the staff went out of their way each day to take us to new reserve areas and find animals we hadn't seen. A balance of walks and great canters. They also worked with the weather (lots of rain) to ensure we had a reasonable amount of time in the saddle each day, which sometimes meant changing the schedule to allow us all to get our riding in. We generally had two different horses a day to allow them to rest. Our guide, Ali, at Bushwillow, was outstanding - special mention for him. He was an incredible guide and teacher and fun to be with. Realising how curious we were (From the million questions I'd throw at him), he went out of his way to teach us as much as possible - from insects, tracking, trees, birds and the larger game.
[Abbie from ITS replies: We are so pleased that you had such a great experience at Ant’s Lodges and enjoyed a special Christmas in South Africa. Thank you for taking the time to submit your review].